Conventionally, television programming and its metadata guide information has been organized according to original broadcasting schedules into channels, characterized by a given program on a given channel at a given time. End users and broadcasters alike have become accustomed to the ingrained concept of navigating for programs in terms of a two-dimensional program listings grid, upon which for a given time point on a time axis of the grid each channel on a channel axis of the grid has a different program, reflected in language, such as “my favorite show will be on channel six at 8:00 pm.” The time/channel information grid, however, is an arbitrary technique for defining a user's desire to find out what is on television.
A television channel represents a specific sequence of programs over time. Broadcasters conventionally determine the programming that they will carry during a future time interval, making the two axes of channel and time a natural and convenient way to organize television programming content and television programming metadata, that is, the guide information sometimes referred to as electronic program guide (EPG) data.
FIG. 1 shows metadata 100 for a program comprising multimedia content to be shown on television as a “TV show.” Of many attributes included in the metadata 100, only two attributes, namely channel 106 and time 108, are utilized to place an identifier of the program, such as the title 102, into a conventional program listings grid (or guide) 104.
FIG. 2 shows the conventional program listings grid 104 of FIG. 1 in greater detail. The channel axis 202 is plotted against the time axis 204, as above, and provides the context for navigating among television programs.
At a given time point 206, usually selected to be the present moment, navigation conventionally consists of traversing from program to program along the channel axis 202. Most conventional TV systems have been designed to navigate according to a channel axis model, in which navigation of both programs and their respective program guide information typically follows the conventional channel axis 202 versus time axis 204 format. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a navigation control, such as a “channel changer” located either on a TV set or on a remote control, traverses the channel axis 202 via, for example, “channel change keys 300,” such as a “next” key 302 and a “previous” key 304. An “enter” or “select” key 306 often accompanies channel change keys 300. Some navigation controls that use channel change keys 300 also include left and right keys that may have a “first” and “last” function or perhaps a volume control function. The illustrated channel change keys 300 are presented, of course, only as one example of conventional navigation controls.
In traversing a channel axis 202, conventional navigation techniques generally hold the time axis 204 constant at a single point representing the present, and cycle through all available channels, displaying the program that is currently playing on each channel in turn, i.e., as a user changes channels the program currently playing on a particular channel automatically displays. The two attributes, channel and time, provide the context for conventional television programming navigation. Navigating from one program or program reference (program ID) to another is sometimes referred to as “scrolling” or “channel-surfing.” Each program ID may be used to access stored data in a local, remote, or DVR media store.
Delivery of programs in a sequence over channels is the best-known context for organizing and navigating television content and characterizes a lingering and predominant mindset in the multimedia arts. However, there is now too much multimedia content to rely on conventional navigation techniques. It is awkward to navigate hundreds or even thousands of conventional channels.
Digital storage of television programs with its characteristic random access feature frees navigation systems from accessing only programs that are being broadcast in the present: program access is no longer limited to currently broadcasted content. Accordingly, the amount of content to choose from potentially consists of programs from thousands of channels (several hundred active channels in some present systems) multiplied by the content of each channel over a time period, which can be years. Although the system of navigating programs by a channel axis 202 and a time axis 204 persists, there is far too much multimedia content to be efficiently and enjoyably navigated by such a system. As Digital Video Recording (DVR) technology evolves, vast stores of content are becoming available to users as “everything on demand,” making ease of navigation a priority.